The Dairy Cattle Reproduction Council (DCRC) is gearing up for its annual meeting, which will take place November 8-9 at the Hyatt Regency in Sacramento, California. Because successful reproductive management depends on many areas on the dairy, this year’s meeting will address topics that ultimately impact reproduction, including nutrition, herd management, animal welfare and technology.
The meeting kicks off with an opening reception on Wednesday, November 7. The following two days will consist of sessions led by industry researchers, reproductive experts and veterinarians.
The following remarks from four of the presenters provide a preview of the content that will be discussed at this year’s event.
Rodrigo C. Bicalho, Cornell University
Intra-Uterine Microbiota of Dairy Cows and the Impact of Trace Minerals
Q. Why is this topic important?
Postpartum uterine diseases of cows – specifically puerperal metritis, clinical endometritis and subclinical endometritis – are important from both animal welfare and economic considerations because they contribute to cow discomfort and elimination from the herd, and have a profound negative effect on reproductive performance. Additionally, the bacterial pathogenesis of uterine diseases is complex and dynamic.
Our group is working with the hypothesis that the metritic intrauterine environment is first colonized by pathogenic E. coli in the immediate postpartum. Following E. coli colonization, the intrauterine space is inhabited by strict anaerobic opportunistic pathogens which alters the environment removing E. coli by completion. At last, the endometrium is colonized by the facultative anaerobic bacterium Arcanobacterium pyogenes, which causes chronic infection and reproductive failure.
In a large clinical trial that evaluated the use of injectable trace minerals (copper, zinc, selenium and manganese), we detected a significant effect of treatment on the prevalence of endometritis and also on the intrauterine microbiota.
Q. What do you hope attendees will take away from your presentation?
The audience should learn new information about the risk factors associated with uterine disease, as well as the bacterial causes of the diseases. Results from several research projects will be presented providing interesting alternatives to control and prevent the occurrence of postpartum uterine disease.
Thomas R. Overton, Cornell University
Feeding and Managing Dairy Cows for Improved Early Cyclity
Q. Why is this topic important?
Managing energy metabolism in transition cows appears to be crucial for successful return to reproductive function.
Q. What do you hope attendees will take away from your presentation?
I expect that attendees will take away understanding of the key aspects of nutritional management of cows in this time frame, how they affect energy metabolism, and how to assess opportunities on farms.
Todd Bilby, Texas AgriLife Research and Extension
Effects of Resynchronization on Fertility and Economics
Q. Why is this topic important?
Resynchronization of non-pregnant cows continues to be a challenge for reproductive performance of dairy cows. According to published studies and on-farm data, pregnancy per AI of cows diagnosed not pregnant and resynchronized with the Ovsynch protocol is usually less than 30 percent. However, estrus detection can play a pivotal role in getting cows pregnant as well.
Recent research has made improvements in fertility through additional hormone intervention by utilizing a common strategy used at first postpartum TAI called pre-synchronization. Understanding how the type of pre-synchronization strategy used before resynchronization, timing of non-pregnancy diagnosis and estrus distribution post-TAI will be important considerations for improved fertility to a resynchronization program. These considerations, along with an economic evaluation, will be discussed.
Q. What do you hope attendees will take away from your presentation?
Many resynchronization programs exist that can significantly improve fertility to timed A.I. and recent research illustrates that using pre-synchronization strategies before resynchronization is important for improving fertility at TAI.
However, dairy farms that achieve acceptable estrous detection and conception rates to those inseminated on estrus should take caution to which resynchronization protocol is implemented. Also, the timing of initiation of synchronization protocols is important to consider in order to ensure that estrous detection is not reduced, in turn, increasing the number of cows that enter the synchronization protocol which may yield a lower fertility.
Future research and on-farm consulting should consider the entire reproductive programs which may involve both cows inseminated on estrus detection and timed A.I. Understanding the economics of which resynchronization program to use while taking into consideration estrus detection capabilities will be important for making an informed decision.
Neil Michael, Vita Plus
John Goeser, Rock River Laboratory, Inc.
Data Management and Remote Access from a Consultant Perspective
Q. Why is this topic important?
Embracing and implementing technology allows dairy teams to monitor and evaluate performance with less lag, and as a group make more educated decisions as necessary. These tools have the capability to capture huge time efficiencies for consultants and dairymen and improve overall communication across multiple levels of the production cycle.
Q. What do you hope attendees will take away from your presentation?
Attendees will be able to view several tools in action as we demonstrate their use in several real-time scenarios including team communication, training, monitoring, data gathering, team meetings and alerts for decision analysis. PD
For more information about the 2012 DCRC Annual Meeting, visit www.dcrcouncil.org or call (262) 563-5100.
